The last year was remarkably eventful and significant, both personally and professionally. It was marked by some finishing lines and goalposts that were clearly and publicly marked out, and some that were more more implicit, inner, and personal. A small subset of highlights that I wanted to write about follow below!
I graduated!
On June 9, 2023, almost four years after I started what has been one of the most momentous journeys of my whole life, my PhD, I successfully defended my thesis and graduated! This was perhaps by far the most remarkable and memorable days of the year, and perhaps also of my life. When my research work from almost four years finally came all together to see its culmination, all the nervousness, anxiety, and fatigue from the weeks preceding dissolved, giving way to only joy. Celebrating with family, friends, and mentors made the day all the more special.
Hosting, and cooking for, a big birthday party
As small as it may sound, cooking all the food for a 15+ people birthday party seemed like a big achievement, given that I’d never cooked for more than 3 or 4 people at a time all by myself. All the better was the fact that everything turned out so well. There was a tangy peanut-black bean salad for starters, a pulao (a spicy Indian rice dish) with a (vegan) yogurt dip for the main course, and a (vegan) chocolate cake for desserts. I was most impressed with how well the chocolate cake turned out, especially given that I had mixed up a couple of different recipes from the internet to come up with my own, and not been very precise with measurements. From the feedback, non-vegans could not tell that it was a “vegan cake”, which is not surprising, making good food, especially baking, needs the right ingredients, proportions, and technique: not animal-derived products.
Assembling a cabinet! — and moving
Again, as small as it may seem, this “first” is something I am extremely proud of. I ordered a cabinet for my TV online, and was surprised to see it arrive completely dissasembled, including nails, screws, and instructions for an assembly which required tools. This was nothing like the intuitive and easy-to-assemble IKEA furnitur, whose pieces need mostly to be put together and fastened. To say the least, I was intimated. I suck at carpentry and in general at things involving hands-on work, there’s no way I could ever do this by myself. What were my options, then? I could call a professional to come do it for me, but who would charge me probably double the price of the actual cabinet, or I could ask a friend to help out (this is how I passed the carpentry workshop in college!), or… I could attempt it myself. I honestly did not have hopes of the last option working out, especially all the way to completion. However, I decided to try it out before resorting to the first two options: I realized how happy and proud it would make me if I could even get a single step from the instruction manual right, even if I had to ask for help afterwards. Because of my perception of how bad I was at these things, even a small ascertaining which piece matched which label on the manual; later figuring out what exactly the steps in the manual said (the instructions were purely visual and had no steps written down).
I didn’t have the tools with me, and wasn’t too keen on buying them only to complete one or two steps of the assembly. So, I susbstituted — a scissor to tighten the screws, and a spice pestle for a hammer. Not ideal, but they worked. Very slowly, I managed the first few steps, which were rather similar: fastening different slabs of the wood together. Probably the picture below was where the first phase of the process ended. Satisfied with getting something done, yet running out of time and patience, I decided to attempt the next few steps in the next few days. I got down to it only over the next weekend, and again set a goal of completing one step at a time, promising myself I would just get help if it didn’t work, and not sulk.
Perhaps needless to say — the story had a surprisingly happy ending, as I got each step in the manual done all by myself, including the integration of LED lights into the cabinet, and with only my substitute tools. As trivial as this may sound to someone who has put together many a pieces of furniture, this felt like a big win to me.
Not to mention — moving to a new place involved so many “firsts” by itself — visiting apartments, talking to landlords, coordinating with movers and packers, electricians, furniture and lighting suppliers, and what not. Putting together a new house was quite some hard work, and I’m glad to have checked this one “adulting” task off in 2023.
Travels, hikes, and nature
In April, I visited Torino in Italy, from where I took the cable car up to Mont Blanc, the highest peak in Europe. The view from above, and the overall feel, were asbolutely serene!
I also did several different hikes, mostly in summer, but some also in the snow, during winter.
Of worthy mention is a guided nature tour of a forest in Zürich, which I attended somewhere towards the end of the year. The tour was by a very interesting man, who spends a great deal of his time protecting and beautifying the forest. For instance, he built the below very impressive structure, which one can even walk around and on top of, and which helps hold water for nearby trees, all by himself over time, using only twigs and fallen barks. He also showed the attendees some of his nature-inspired art.
Needless to say, 2023 was a year fully bedecked with unnummerable new experiences, emotions, learnings, and memories. This article was just a small collection of some of the most mention-worthy of these.